Surgery update/Having fun

Addy's surgery went very well. Tubes were put in both ears and a scope was done. After the scope, the doc paged me to discuss the results before they lifted the anesthesia. What they found was kind of expected. She still showed signs of laryngomalacia. Most kids outgrow this by her age and there is no telling whether or not she would outgrow it in time, so the doc suggested that we cut some of the tissue away in the glottal area to help her out. They did just that and amazingly it has seemed to work. We no longer hear any loud breathing during physical activity. I am thrilled that it worked. Addy recovered much better than we could have expected and took everything in stride. We couldn't have asked for more. Doesn't she look just thrilled in this picture???



Addy's new favorite thing is to make hot cocoa with marshmallows. In therapy this week she created an art project of a cup of cocoa using real cocoa, paint and cotton balls. The project was then followed by the experience of her getting to make her own hot cocoa. Boy did she like it and now of course we have to do it at home!



Last weekend we headed to Ionia to visit Grandma and Grandpa Mills. On New Year's Eve, Aaron and I went out while Grandma and Grandpa took Addy to a roller skating party. Now I know you are asking yourself how in the world a kid who can't walk roller skated. Well, we assumed that she would just walk around the rink using her walker. She did that, but also told Grandma that she wanted to put on her own pair of roller skates. She even said in her own words..."Grandma, I'm gonna try really, really hard." So, she did. It was difficult for her and she didn't get far, but enjoyed having the skates on her feet. So after hearing the stories, Aaron and I had to go for a trip to see it for ourselves.

This time we took along our own pair of skates that we higher in the ankle for more stability. She could wear them over her shoes and fit well. I was amazed that she actually was able to get up and roller skate with them on using her walker. I held her by the back of the pants just in case of a fall, but she did the rest. She is one motivated little girl! What fun it was to see her trying so hard. Our friends, Marty, Steph and Kaya also came along. Kaya was very scared at first since she had never roller skated before, bu it didn't take her long to really enjoy it. Guess we will have to do that more often.

Medical/Therapy Update

Just a little bit of medical and therapy news to update. Tomorrow we venture to Children's Hospital for tubes in ears as well as a scope. Addy had tubes in her ears as an infant due to chronic ear infections, but the tubes have since come out. She has had continual fluid in her ears over the course of the last few ENT appointments which is beginning to affect how she hears. The only way to correct this is to replace the tubes so we can get rid of the fluid.

While she is under the anesthesia, she is going to be scoped to take a look at her vocal chords/throat/larynx area. She has laryngomalacia which is a common condition in infancy in which the soft cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation. Typically by now most kids have outgrown this. Addison continues to have very loud breathing when exerting physical activity to the point that people have questioned me as to whether or not she is breathing okay. She sounds like she is struggling to breath, but if you look at her she shows no outward signs of struggle. The ENT thinks that it continues to be due to low tone in that area, however, just to be sure the scope will be done to check for abnormalities.

Her surgery is scheduled from 10:00-11:30. The worst part about it is nothing to eat or drink after midnight. That is going to be rough for a little girl that loves to eat. We shall see how that goes.

In therapy news, Addy recently received a new pair of braces. This time they gave her an SMO/AFO combination which is a short ankle brace that fits inside a taller ankle brace. She needs to have the use of both kinds of braces so they thought this might be the route to go. Well, it's not quite working for us. The inner ankle brace is made of such thin plastic that it gaps and just doesn't seem to be a snug fit on her feet. The orthotist is going to relook at them and we will probably end up getting new ones made.

We also just ordered Addy an orthopedic stroller. The regular stroller that she currently uses she has almost outgrown and she will definitely continue to have a need for a stroller when it comes to distance. I will post pictures when we get them, but it will probably take 6-8 weeks to receive it. She's also on the last hole of her walker to be able to adjust it in height, so that will probably have to be ordered in the near future as well.

I think that's all for now. Here are some cute around the house pics of Addy. Oh and by the way, in case you missed it........IT'S A GIRL!!!! We are excited that Addy is going to have a sister.

The Princess and the Frog

We took Addy to see her first movie, The Princess and the Frog. We were a little leary as to how she would do sitting through a long movie, but much to our surprise, she absolutely loved it. She sat through the entire movie, had her own little bag of popcorn and was a little sad when it was over. Here are some pics from our night at the movies.

Christmas

I'm a little late getting these posts out. Here are some pics of Addy helping to make Christmas cookies this year. She loves to play with playdough so cutting out cookies was right up her alley.





We had so much fun with Christmas this year. Addy was at the age where she understood everything. She talked so much about Santa coming and leaving out milk and cookies. She was able to open her own presents and enjoyed every one of them.